Antiskid-chain tool



May 26, 1925. 1,539,530

D. C. WOCDWORTH ANTISKID CHAIN TOOL Filed D60. 29, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inn /7Z0]:

B 1 a (Mm RM May 26, 1925. 1,539,530

D. c. WOODWORTH ANTISKID CHAIN TOOL Filed Dec. 9, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED STATES DONALD C. WOODWORTH, 0F LEWI'STON, MAINE.

ANTISKID-CHAIN TOOL.

Application filed December 29, 1923. Serial No. 683,428.

To ((71 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD C. VVoOD- wou'rirr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lewiston, in the county of Androscoggin and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in .smtiskid-Chain Tools, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tools for repairing tire chains, and is intended for opening and closing the links which connect the cross chains to the side chains and it has the same mode of opening links which is employed in the antiskid chain tool which was patented to me on the fourth day of May 1920, and in the improved antiskid chain tool for which I applied for a patent on the 17th of April 1922, Serial No. 553,- 9- 11.

The above mentioned tools usable on the lighter chains.

In the tool herein described I provide for opening these light'fastening links; and I also provide for opening with the same tool and in the same way the fastening links of the heavy chains used on large trucks. The opening and closing of the larger links, calls for the application of a force many times larger than is needed for the small links. My invention consists primarily in first rigidly fastening the member carrying the opening wedges and in thereafter providing the necessary pulling power for the movable member by means of a compound lever pivotally attached to the fixed member. My invention further comprises the particular form of compound lever which I prefer to use, and the various attachments and means of adjustment hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective drawing of the tool. Figs. 2, 3, 4: and 5 are detail drawings showing its working. Fig. 2 shows the tool opening a heavy fastening link. Fig. 3 shows the hook of a fastening link being closed by end pressure. Fig. 1 shows a similar hook being closed by crosswise pressure. Fig. 5 shows the pulling open of the hook of a light fastening link.

In these drawings 1 is the rigid supporting member with which the movable parts are pivotally connected. For convenience of manufacture it is made in two parts which are afterwards bolted together. 2, 3 and 4 are opening wedges, similar in construction and mode of operation to those are only used in my previous tools. They are removably mounted and secured by setscrews as shown.

These wedges are finished to a working edge, hardened and tempered. Through the fixed member 1 passes the rockshaft 5 which takes its motion from the handle 6. On the rockshaft 5 is mounted the eccentric 7 which has the throw needed to give the working motions of all the moving parts. On this eccentric 7 is mounted the swinging member 8 which carries the lugs or pulling hooks 9 and 10 and is piv'otally connected to the notched pressing piece 11 which drops over the pin 12 and in so doing adjusts the working position of the lugs'9 and 10 in relation to the opening wedges 2, 3 and 4 and also adjusts the working position of its own pressing end 13 in relation to the corrugated part 14 of the fixed member 1. {J is a fastening linkand C any other chain ink.

When I wish to use the tool to open a small, short link as shown in Fig. 5 I swing the notched pressing piece 11 until the notch which brings the lug 9 nearest to the wedge 2, drops over the pin 12. Then by means of the handle 6 acting through the rock shaft 5 and eccentric 7 I move the swinging member 8 until the link L will drop over the lug 9 and opening wedge 2. I then reverse the handle 6 and pull the hook end of L over the opening wedge 2 until su'lficiently spread apart.

When I wish to open a large link I drop the notch in the pressing piece 11 which corresponds to a link of that size over the pin 12. I then drop the link L over the opening wedges 3 and 4 and then adjust the lug 10 by means of the handle 6 until a chain link as C will drop over it. I then reverse the motion of the handle until the link L is as shown in Fig. 2 and continue the pressure until fully open.

lVhen I wish to close a link by endwise pressure I drop the proper notch for the size of the link over the pin 12 and then by means of the eccentric 7 I make the distance between the pressing end 13 of the notched piece 11 and the corrugated part 14 of the fixed member 1 equal to the length of the link L, which link I adjust between 13 and 14 in such a position that the pressure transmitted from the eccentric will act to close the link as shown in Fig. 3.

When I wish to close it by crosswise pressure, I readj ust the distance by means of the notches in the pressure piece 11 and compress as shown in Fig. 4. In dealing with difficult links better results can sometimes be attained by using the methods shown in Figs. 8 and 4 one after the other on the same link.

Having now fully explained my invention and the manner of using it what I claim is: j r

1. In an antiskid chain tool a fixed member carrying an opening wedge, a swinging member carrying a pulling hook, an adjustable connection between the pivot of the swinging member and the fixed member, a lever pivoted to the fixed member and an actuating connection between the lever and the swinging member, all in combination with each other. 1

2. In an antiskid chain toolthe combination with a fixed member of opening wedges mounted a at each end thereof, a swinging member with a lug projecting from the top at each side, an adjusting pieceto which the swinging member is pivoted, an adjusting pin over which notches in the adjusting piece drop and means of imparting back and forth motion to the swinging member.

3. In an antiskid chain tool the combination of a fixed member, removably mounted opening wedges at either end of the fixed member, a lever actuated rook shaft in the fixed member, an eccentric on the rock shaft, a swinging member fitted to the eccentric and controlled in motion by it, a notched adjusting piece to which the swinging member is pivoted and a fixed pin over which the adjusting notches drop.

4. In a tool for opening short, thick fasten ing links a fixed member, a pair of opening wedges mounted thereon and separated by a space for the second link of the cross chain, a swinging piece having a lug over which a link drops, means of imparting a back and forth motion to the swinging memher and an adjustable piece to which the swinging member is pivotally attached.

5. In atool for closing the fastening links of tire chains, the combination of a fixed member, a handleactuated rock shaft mounted on the fixed member, an eccentric on the rock shaft, a swinging member fitted to' the eccentric, a pressing piece which is DONALD C. WOODWORTH. 

